Looping Network Meetings
#82 March 16, 2026
Monday 15:00 (Paris/Warsaw time)
Ludovic Keiser (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Institut de Physique de Nice)
A two-phase flow perspective on embolism in plant vascular networks
Abstract:
Water transport in plants occurs under negative pressure, placing the liquid phase in a metastable state. Under drought stress, air can invade the vascular network, forming embolisms that disrupt flow and may ultimately lead to plant death. Despite its ecological importance, embolism propagation remains poorly understood from a physical standpoint.
In this seminar, I will revisit embolism as a two-phase flow instability in a compliant, heterogeneous network. Using biomimetic microfluidic systems that reproduce key geometrical features of plant vessels, we study how capillary thresholds, interface curvature, and pressure diffusion govern air invasion. We show how local capillary events couple through the network to produce intermittent and sometimes hierarchical propagation dynamics.
By combining controlled experiments and simple hydrodynamic modeling, we aim to build a minimal physical framework for embolism spreading in complex vascular networks.
Image source: Adaptation of Brodribb, T. J., Bienaimé, D. & Marmottant, P. Revealing catastrophic failure of leaf networks under stress. PNAS 113, 4865–4869 (2016). Data analyzed in Keiser, L., Dollet, B. & Marmottant, P. Embolism propagation in Adiantum leaves and in artificial microfluidic leaves. J. R. Soc. Interface 21, 217 (2024).
Head image credits (from top left):
(1) Corentin Bisot and Loreto Oyarte Galvez,
(2) Claire Lagesse,
(3) Stéphane Douady,
(4) Stanisław Żukowski,
(5) Przemysław Prusinkiewicz,
(6) Andrea Perna,
(7) John Shaw (Google Earth),
(8) Justin Tauber,
(9) Marc Durand.
Contact: s.zukowski [at] uw.edu.pl